September 14, 2009

A Classic (or the longest post ever written)

As with most of the old things we have picked up along the way, this find has a story. (You know what a sucker I am for things that have a story.) No, we did not pull it out of the trash and lug it home. No, we did not splurge on our estate sale trips and no, we did not inherit it. Jacob did, however, buy it on eBay.That’s where our story begins. Purdy as she is this truck caused a big stink in our house before we ever laid eyes on her. I got a little upset about the big purchase and I cried. Imagine that….me, crying. Yeah, not hard. At all. Anyway, we got everything worked out and worked out well. I like the way we fight – we resolve stuff.

Then, we had to work out how to actually get the truck back to where we are. It was in Redstone Arsenal, AL and well, we are not. Jacob got all of that worked out with his brother and father helping in big ways. One let us borrow a big trailer, one let us borrow the big truck. I know what you are thinking, “So, where’s the story? This doesn’t sound that exciting.”

Well, our trip down to Redstone Arsenal went well. We had a good ride in the big truck and enjoyed each other. Then we get to Redstone Arsenal and things changed fast. If you do not know, Redstone Arsenal is a military base-thingy near Huntsville, AL. We do not belong to any branch of the military. So, we experienced something new trying to get on base. And by experience I mean we had to get out of the vehicle while they asked us lots of questions and searched the vehicle. Plus, to add to the mini drama of two naïve civilians trying to get on base, we could not find the insurance card in the big borrowed truck. Excuse me, we could not find the current insurance card. We did find five others though.

On base, we found a nice truck in much better condition than Jacob was expecting, a nice military man who owned lots of classic cars, and a hold your breath moment while Jacob tried to pull the truck on the big borrowed trailer. Back on the road, we kept thinking someone was following us until we realized it was Jacob’s truck on our tail. And that made Jacob smile. Big.

Then it happened, just as we called Jacob’s parents to tell them everything was going well. Yep. That’s when it happened. The tread came flying off one of the tires on the big trailer that was carrying the new big truck that is really, really heavy. And when I say the tread came flying off, I mean all the tread on that tire came flying off and took a trailer light with it. Yep.

We were still in Alabama when the tread decided to escape. We rode on the treadless tire for a while at the big trailer owner’s advice. We were okay for a bit, but then we hit Mississippi. Have you ever driven on Mississippi roads? They are not good for regular, good tires much less a tire with no tread on a trailer carrying a 4000lb truck. Nope. Not good at all. See?

But had this not happened, we would not have the story I have been trying to tell you this whole time. You see, Jacob got to the point where he thought something needed to be done about the tire. He pulled over in Union Station, MS and called his dad. They decided Jacob should take the tire off and just ride slow the hour or so left to Memphis.

Then comes Ricky Fiveash with the biggest toothy grin you’ve ever seen. He was excited about Jacob’s new truck on the trailer. His eyes were big as quarters as he was asking about the truck and inspecting it. His hat sat up high on his head. Lucky for us, Ricky knew cars and tires. He lived “just up at the top of the hill” and he had several cars in his yard from which to get spare rims and tires. The Ford tire he brought back first didn’t work. Then he brought back a rim and tire from a 57 Pontiac. It worked.

This part of the story doesn’t even begin to capture the glory of this moment.

Ricky Fiveash was like a 40 year old kid in a candy store as he talked about the turquoise Mercury Comet he had brought the tires in. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. He had an empty old Dr. Pepper glass bottle in the front seat. Ricky Fiveash had an incredibly thick drawl, and I will never forget our redneck Angel and the way he said “Naw” when I asked him a question. I am glad that God blessed us with the tools to get the trailer fixed that night, but I am more grateful that God sent us Ricky Fiveash. He was a joy. He gave this truck a story and turned it into a true classic.

And we even got to see this right after we left Ricky Fiveash at the Union Station, MS BP. It's a beautiful life, isn't it?

Update: I'm back! I was reading over at Chatting at the Sky and decided this would work for Emily's Tuesdays Unwrapped. So head on over there to find more gifts in the everyday!

4 comments:

This is a GREAT post and a wonderful story! I love it! I like the way you choose to see things so much.

In our marriage we resolve too. I like it also. It's a good way to "fight". There are usually some tears involved from me somewhere in the process but my sweet husband knows it's just my way of letting off steam. I'd rather cry than yell. :)